This essay analyzes the differences between the depiction of evil in Tolkien’s book series and the way evil is presented in Jackson’s film series by looking at “The Scouring of the Shire” chapter from The Return of the King. While Jackson’s film presents evil as an externalized force that can potentially be destroyed, Tolkien presents evil as an internalized force that must be challenged continually and can reemerge after it is supposedly destroyed.

In this paper, I focus on the 2013 film adaptation of Carrie as indicative of shifts in discourse about violence and adolescence in the 20th and 21st centuries. I examine why the film adaptations emerged in certain historical moments and look at the queer and feminist potentials of adapating a novel like Carrie in the post-Columbine digital world.